Nepal Airlines faces bleak future - ministry

Nepal's aviation minister wants daily Nepal Airlines updates

Nepal Airlines chairman again touts buying light turboprops

The executive chairman of Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) told a gathering in Kathmandu this week that the state-owned airline is ready, willing, and able to acquire up to three new aircraft to bolster its domestic network.

Speaking at an event on January 23 to welcome Nepal's new tourism minister and final decision maker on aircraft acquisitions, Yuvraj Adhikari said the financial condition of Nepal Airlines had improved, and pending ministerial approval, he would like to purchase "up to three aircraft" to improve service quality and aid the responsible structural reform of the state-owned carrier.

In January 2022, Nepal Airlines revealed a five-year plan to acquire up to 32 aircraft, including 18 regional aircraft for domestic flying, subject to securing government funding to pay for them. But that funding never materialised. Instead, the Nepalese government began pushing through a series of reforms, initiated investigations, and made leadership changes at the airline in an attempt to turn around the chronically loss-making carrier.

By mid-2022, a new general manager was promising a revised business plan and,...

Nepal Airlines repays another $2.5mn of state funds

Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) has repaid NPR330 million Nepalese rupees (USD2.5 million) on a loan taken from Nepal's Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to purchase an Airbus narrowbody, the national carrier announced in a statement.

The instalment was made on January 13 and comprised capital and interest on the principal amount. As reported earlier, the loan of around NPR37 billion (USD277.8 million) was for the purchase of two A330-200s and two A320-200s, however with the added interest, the total debt accumulated to NRP45 billion (USD337.9 million).

Nepal Airlines made earlier instalments of NPR1.35 billion (USD11.4 million) on July 14, 2022 and NPR730 million (USD5.5 million) on October 18, 2022.

The airline stated that regular instalments were being made and that employees had been informed of the amounts repaid, whereas for two years, loan obligations to the EPF and Citizen Investment Trust (CIT) had not been paid for various reasons but mostly due to financial strain experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nepal Airlines set to sell unwanted Chinese turboprops

Nepal Airlines (RA, Kathmandu) has begun the process of selling all five of its Chinese-made turboprops - two MA-60s and three Y12Es - after they received no expressions of interest for their lease.

The Nepalese flag carrier issued a Request for Proposals for the full appraisal of the quintet. The only requirement for the bidders is that they hold a valid ISTAT certification. Bids are due by December 20, 2022.

According to tender documents seen by ch-aviation, the aircraft details are as follows:

• MA-60 9N-AKQ (msn 1007), manufactured in December 2013, has accumulated 2996.3 flight hours and 3316 cycles,
• MA-60 9N-AKR (msn 1008), manufactured in November 2016, has 3079.1 hours and 3415 cycles,
• Y12E 9N-AKS (msn 26), manufactured in June 2014, has 1346.2 hours and 2333 cycles,
• Y12E 9N-AKT (msn 27), manufactured in March 2015, has 641.1 hours and 1424 cycles, and
• Y12E 9N-AKV (msn 29), manufactured in September 2015, has 1027.3 hours and 1386 cycles.

All five are outfitted with airworthy engines and propellers.

Nepal...